


Prince of Ashes

by coldnightsandcoffee



Category: Shadow and Bone (TV), The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alarking, Alina finds the impossible to become the improbable, Consensual Infidelity, Darklina - Freeform, Dubious Consent, Eventual Smut, F/M, Post-Book 1: King of Scars, Sharing a Bed, Short Chapters, Slow Burn, Unfinished, multi-chapter, ongoing, spoilers galore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 08:53:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30019248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldnightsandcoffee/pseuds/coldnightsandcoffee
Summary: Spoilers galore!Set after Ruin and Rising/King of Scars. Alina is living her ordinary life filled with ordinary moments when something extraordinary happens.
Relationships: Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova & Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

Alina bent low to the ground, her back to the sun. A wide-brimmed hat shielded most of her face from the mid-morning heat. The rose bushes in front of her waited for her gloved hands to prune a few wayward branches here and there. In the distance, she can hear children shrieking in delight as they threw themselves into a spirited game of tag. In the courtyard, a great golden coach glittered in the sunlight. The air smelled like damp earth and sweet headiness of the roses. Snip, snip went her gardening shears. The branches fell to the ground. When she was done, she stood up quickly, and felt the earth move beneath her feet.

She stilled, her heart beating fast. An earthquake? She stopped to listen for raised voices or the sounds of alarm. There was neither. _Strange_. She stood listening a moment longer, then bent to gather the pruned branches. An errant thorn found its way to nick her skin above her gloves. A drop of blood pooled, bright red against the pale of her skin. A memory reared its head, swift and ugly. Crimson blooming on two different chests, flesh cleaved by the same dagger she held in her bloodied hand. One lived, and one died, lost forever to the world. _No grave for them to desecrate_. A warm hand clutched tightly to hers, growing cooler with each passing moment.

She heaved a shuddering breath. The warm day suddenly felt too cold. It’s been three years since that day, she realized, three years since she watched a great pyre consume one man’s body alongside hers. When she said goodbye to who she was before and stepped into a new life entirely. She shook off the memories, and headed back to the orphanage.

\---

Mal was sitting on the floor cross legged, a book on his hands and a gaggle of children gathered on the floor around him. He looked up at her and smiled as she passed outside the room, never pausing from the story. She waved to him and the children and headed straight to the kitchen. Depositing her hat and gloves on the countertop, she got a glass of water and drank deeply. Outside, excited squeals filled the play yard. Inside, the soothing timbre of Mal’s reading voice continued. A perfectly ordinary day, filled with perfectly ordinary moments.

Then she felt it.

It was very faint, barely a whisper against the walls of her mind, almost like a memory. Eyes wide, the glass of water forgotten in her hand, she waited for it tug again. A few heartbeats passed. She didn’t dare breathe. It did not come. She let loose a huff of air, feeling foolish. It would be impossible. He was long gone. She watched his body burn. And yet.

She stood for a few minutes longer, swore softly, and went upstairs for a bath.

\---

She moved against his body as he moved inside her, sweat beading on their skin. Their lovemaking was gentle as always, quiet, well aware that the house was full of children who can pick up the slightest sound. Mal’s movements became more urgent and she gripped him tight as he lost control, spilling into her. With a sigh, he laid back on the sheets, pulling Alina close beside him. In a few moments, he was asleep. She listened to his even breaths, shallow in slumber. As the rise and fall of his chest lulled her and her eyes finally closed, she felt it again. That tug. A tremor of cold sensation spread over her body, and she found herself wide awake. Was she dreaming? The tug felt stronger this time, as if it had gathered strength. She gently extricated herself from Mal’s arms and sat up, willing her head to clear. 

It cannot be. He was dead. She saw his flesh blacken and burn while she whispered his name in farewell. His true name. Had felt only silence on the handful of foolish times she quested for that bond, curious if it reached the afterlife. With her powers gone, she wouldn’t have been able to feel it even if it did. She felt the same heat of foolishness now as she closed her eyes, hands gripping the sheets on either side of her. _Maybe, just maybe._

She reached inside herself, for a memory of how she used to cast around for his presence, and blindly pulled on a bond she cannot feel.

This time, there was an answering call, and she felt that bond solidify and snap into place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers galore!
> 
> Set after Ruin and Rising/King of Scars. Alina is living her ordinary life filled with ordinary moments when something extraordinary happens.

“So many of my old friends, gathered in one place,” said the Darkling. His eyes flashed gray, the color of quartz. He said each word slowly, deliberately, delighting in the way they flinched at his voice. “It’s good to be home.” 

“Gag him,” Genya said, her scarred hands still pressed to her mouth. 

“This one’s new.” Voice cool as cut glass, directed at Ehri. “Princess Ehri of Shu Han.” 

Ehri’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know me?”

“I know many things.” He smiled, as if he was going to say more, but didn’t. Ehri shivered as if from the cold, as the Darling continued to look at her.

“Nothing like a Ravkan family reunion,” said Nikolai, stepping close to Ehri and patting her on the arm.

“Gag him,” Genya pleaded. Tolya stepped forward and quickly bound his mouth with cloth, taking pains to touch as little of him as possible. As she faced him fully, adjusting the gag, his eyes met hers and she watched, horrified, as they twinkled in amusement. Tolya stepped back quickly. “Let’s kill him right now.”

“Not yet,” Nikolai said, “As much as it pains me to say it, we are going to need him.” He lifted a hand to the others, letting their eyes rest to the scars marring his skin. “I’m going to need him.” He could feel Ehri’s eyes widen at the sight of them.

Beside him, Zoya curled her hands into fists, saying nothing.

“What are we going to do with him now?” asked Tamar. 

“Lock him up. Not in the dungeons, but at the Little Palace under heavy guard. Next to Mayu.” At the sounds of protest hurled at him in unison, he simply said, “I need him cooperative.” He turned to the Darkling, eyes glinting. “Consider this a mercy. I will not throw you in a dungeon, I will not treat you with the utmost cruelty with which you’ve shown us, shown all of us.” He gestured to everyone in the room. “But I need your help. And you will help us.”

The Darkling lifted his face up to Nikolai, and he could swear there was laughter behind his cold, cold eyes.

\--

“Alina.”

In the darkness of her bedroom, she felt that cool voice crawling down the taught cord of their bond, into her heart, filling her with ice. Impossible, she thought. Improbable, Nikolai would say. Outside, the wind seemed to blow a bit stronger, and the shadows around her seem to coil much tighter. She braced herself as the next pulse of thought came slithering through.

“I am home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, he's back. Run, Alina, run.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, she felt the hair on her arms stand on end. She slowly realized that the woods has lost its sounds. She also has the distinct sensation of being watched. She peered out into the darkness.

The room was dark, with only a single lamp flickering on the table. The Darkling took in his surroundings. Bare furniture - a single bed, a chair carelessly placed beside the table. _Oh, Elizaveta._ This was a far cry from the grandeur of her hive, her magnificent palace of thorns and roses. But despite the humble accommodations, this was a sweeter sight. He had escaped the Shadow Fold at last. _Thank you for your sacrifice. Now our time has come._ A heavily guarded room will not keep him in, especially not now, when he did more than escape the Shadow Fold. Especially not from the palace he has built with his own two hands. 

_Poor fools, if you think you can keep me here._

He stretched out a hand as tendrils of darkness in the shape of twisting thorny vines seeped under the door and climbed unseen to the dozen guards standing outside his room. The darkness crept up their skin and until it entered their mouths, until the thorns pierced their delicate eyeballs and climbed inside their noses. The guards went utterly still, hands hanging limp by their sides. 

“Good boys,” he said, stepping through a door rendered open with just a touch of his hand. As he walked away from his former prison, he lifted a hand and the door holding the imprisoned Tavgharad girl opened wide. A little gift for the boy king. 

Satisfied, he bent his shadows around his own body and disappeared from view.

\--

 _“I am home.”_

Hands shaking, Alina tried to make sense of what was happening. Every inch of her is screaming to run away, to hide. But she still cannot wrap her head around what all her senses are screaming at her. The Darkling is alive and walking the earth once more.

Another ripple down the bond, another thought forming in his mind.

_“I will come for you.”_

She has to go. She has to go now. She looked back at Mal’s sleeping form, an ugly ache tugging at her chest. She is powerless now. She is nothing. _What do you want from me?_ she whispered down the bond, desperate. But there was no answer.

Quickly, she packed only the barest of her belongings. She needs go far away from Keramzin, far away from the children and Mal, far away from Nikolai’s men still staying at the orphanage, awaiting word from the King. She scrawled a quick note on the bedside table asking Mal not to worry, that she’s safe, and that she has urgent matters to attend to. Slinging her satchel across her body, she took one last look at Mal, and fled into the night.

\--

 _Safe. I need to go somewhere safe._ Striding across the courtyard, she spied the golden coach and was tempted for a moment to borrow it and take her farther than she can walk. But no one needs to know where she has gone, so when the Darkling comes sniffing for her trail, there will be none left to find. It has to be on foot.

He is alive. Is that why Nikolai and Zoya were headed to Kribirsk? Did they know? Is this all connected to the rising cult of the Starless Saint. Her head reeled at all of the questions that don’t have any answers. Safe. I need to go somewhere I can be protected. Os Alta? Can Nikolai and the Triumvate be powerful enough to defeat him a second time? 

_I cannot subject them to this again. It is me he wants. I need to stay away from everyone._

The moon high in the sky lit her path. Her breath came out in wisps of mist as she decided where to go. It was so cold. She needs to stay hidden, and alone. She decided the woods right outside Keramzin is a good place to start. 

The trees started out sparse, here and there. But soon they were so thick that they started to block out the moonlight. In the thick stillness, she heard a wolf howling in the distance. She suddenly felt very afraid, and very stupid. Without giving herself a chance to second guess, she plunged on deeper and deeper. She would find a place to stay the night to camp and plan where to go to next.

Suddenly, she felt the hair on her arms stand on end. She slowly realized that the woods has lost its sounds. She also has the distinct sensation of being watched. She peered out into the darkness.

“I am here,” she said.

Something slithered on the ground towards her. Several thorny vines, roses blooming and dying as they grew, reached out for her feet. She stepped back. And then she noticed the ground growing very dark, as if shadows blacker than the night curled around her.

“Hello, Alina.”

That cool cut glass voice. She turned around, and he was there before her.

“Aleksander.” It was him, yet not him. He looks taller somehow, more lean than she remembered. But his face still has the same elegant lines, and he moved with the same unnatural grace as he took a step towards her. Under the faint moonlight, his eyes were as dark as midnight. Beautiful, dangerous.

“Surprised?” He tilted his head to one side.

“We burned you.”

“And yet I am here.” Two more steps, and he closed the gap between them. The vines curled around her ankles, up her legs. He reached a hand out to touch her face. Still the same, elegant fingers. Still the same scent, cool as winter wind, reached her as he lowered his face to her. “How I’ve missed you.”

“How is it possible?”

“It’s a long story to tell.”

“I am nothing. Why have you come for me?”

“So many questions. Let me answer one tonight.” He brushed his lips lightly on her cheek. “You are _never_ nothing to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay a longer chapter this time.


	4. Chapter 4

The Darkling’s lips were warm on her skin, as is his breath, caressing her face in clouds of white. She had half-expected him to appear to her as an apparition, a cruel miracle. The Starless Saint, they called him. The Savior of Ravka. His raven hair gleamed in the moonlight. A corner of his mouth lifted in a hint of a smile as he pulled away. She stilled her heart, suddenly aware that he can hear every thunderous beat. He is alive, made flesh and blood by some sadistic trick of the universe. _I killed you. I watched you die._

She met his eyes. “What do you want?”

He lifted his face and looked down at her. He is every bit as beautiful as she remembered. And every bit as deadly. 

“Why spoil the fun?”

“You’ve changed.” She looked down, indicating the shadowy vines now inching their way up her legs. 

“A present from an old friend.” He chuckled, as if enjoying an inside joke. “A parting gift. There are so, so many things I can do now.”

 _Like this._ She heard his words, soft and sensuous, in her mind, clear as if he’d spoken right beside her. Her left shoulder itched, her body remembering that old bond. He glanced down at that shoulder, as if remembering too. He reached out a hand to trace the scars hidden underneath her clothes.

“I’ve always wondered what I would do once I’m… back. I’ve had a great deal of time to think about the things I want.” His fingers traced the lines of my collarbone, drifting up to brush his knuckles against my neck. “And I want many things.”

Alina found her eyes closing as something deeply buried and long forgotten flared to life inside her. A small spark that reminded her of a hungry kiss in a dark room, a warm hand up her thigh, the ripple of taut muscles under her hands. _No._ She shook her head as if shaking off a nightmare. _No._ She looked up at those, cool, gray eyes and knew for certain that he remembered as well. She suddenly became aware that they’re very much alone, with not a soul who can hear her for miles.

“I’ve waited for this day. Waited for you.” His fingers went to her nape, to her hair. “Waited a long time for this.” He bent down and his lips grazed her ear, barely touching it. “And I intend to enjoy it. Slowly.” 

He lifted his fingers, almost like an afterthought, and within the space of a heartbeat, their surroundings have changed. They were no longer in the dark frosty woods under the moonlight. She blinked at the sudden golden light. They were indoors. It was warm. Her legs were no longer bound by his strange, shadow vines. She smelled wood smoke and heard the crackling of a fire. A log cabin.

“Where have you taken me?”

“Someplace where no one will ever find you.”

That is good, she supposed. If she can keep the Darkling here – wherever _here_ is – then Mal will be safe. Then her friends will be safe. She no longer has her power to stand toe to toe with him. This will do until she can come up with a better plan.

The Darkling watched her as she took in her surroundings. Large glass panes showed the first swirls of snow falling outside. Redwood logs made up the walls, a cream stone fireplace taking up the space on the far end of the room. Above her, the wood sloped up to a high ceiling, giving the single room an airy, open feel. A small table stood to one side, two chairs on opposite ends, in a what looks like a tiny kitchen and pantry. And near the fireplace, a handsome, four-poster bed gleamed ebony, its surface covered with furs and pillows of varying shapes. One bed. One bed in this saintsforsaken house.

The Darkling grinned at her, delighting in her reaction. 

“Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I Will Come" by Alpha Rev is required soundtrack for the woods scene. <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I remember everything. The feel of your mouth on mine. The warmth of your body against me.” His thumb pulled down, opening her mouth.

She stared at the bed, then stared back at the Darkling. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am.”

“I am _married_ , Alexander.” She flung her hand up so that he can see. Her simple gold ring flashed in the firelight.

“Then why come to me alone?”

“I didn’t come to you. You came for me.”

“And yet you _were_ alone, knowing I will come. Why?”

She looked up at him. He’s taller than she remembered. “To keep them safe.”

“Is that all?” He held her stare, a knowing smile on his lips. Damn that smile. “You know very well that is useless. I can come for them whenever I want. You offered yourself up to me. Willingly. In the dead of night.” His fingers reached up, cupping her face. His thumb brushed across her lower lip. He leaned in to whisper, “I remember everything. The feel of your mouth on mine. The warmth of your body against me.” His thumb pulled down, opening her mouth. It’s getting harder to think. “I remember your moan the night you almost gave yourself to me. I remember your soft body beneath me in bed.” His mouth found her skin at last, grazing just below her ear. In spite of herself, Alina’s eyes closed. “I remember your body between my legs. I remember your voice when you said my name.” She fought the urge to take the Darkling’s thumb in her mouth, to feel it on her tongue, even as his own mouth moved lower towards the base of her throat.

She never felt this way with Mal. Mal is… spring. Mal is the gentle sunrise that chases the night away. Mal is hope and tenderness. Even in bed, he’s been nothing but tender. The Darkling, however…

His thumb left her mouth, and she almost ached at the loss if it, until he raised his head, and kissed her.

The Darkling is winter storm and raging river. He is a forest fire that consumed everything in its path. Even as her mouth opened for him, his tongue searing against hers, she felt herself being devoured from within. He kissed her, and she found her arms have already entwined themselves around his neck. His hands were on her back, pulling her tight against him. The kisses were hungry, insistent. And then they grew more tender. More savoring. A minute, an hour, half a day passed. She didn’t know which. He slowed down enough that he was able to speak between kisses.

“Time,” he said breathlessly, before he caught her mouth again and nipped at her lower lip. “We have time.” Finally he kissed her forehead and held her tight. Then he pulled back to look into her eyes.

“I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I…” 

He placed a finger on her lips. “Don’t say a word. I don’t want to hear it. Just - let me have this.” He placed another soft kiss on her lips. “I meant this. This house is yours now. Your home.”

“And will you be staying with me here?” _Am I a prisoner?_

“As much time as I can. As much as I can spare.”

“Where will you be going?”

A glint in his eye, a wicked grin on that cruel, beautiful mouth.

“I’m going to take back Ravka. And you will be my queen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a couple days to post. I was aiming for a daily update, but work and life gets in the way. -_-
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this. More to come. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Rule of Wolves is coming around the corner and I'm not sure if it will ever contain any chapters on Alina/Darkling interaction. This will focus mainly on her point of view and the other characters may dip in and out depending on where I'll take the story. :)
> 
> Kudos and comments are my cookies. <3


End file.
